She now knows she was suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which, according to the mental health charity Mind, is a very severe form of premenstrual syndrome.

"I actually went out in the middle of the night, climbed through a fence, and sat in the middle of the forest," Adele, who ultimately had her ovaries removed in a bid to beat the condition, said.

She continued: "I was just sitting there thinking: 'Come and get me, you won’t win.'

"I was very angry and I felt invincible."

5

Tegan Graham also suffered PMDD

Adele explained: "The anger was so strong I felt nothing could hurt me, and I put myself in a dangerous position testing this."

Back at home, Adele's husband, Wayne, 39, who fits bathrooms, was petrified for his wife. "He said there were many times he was so scared he would want to call the police," Adele admitted.

Eventually, by her late 30s, Adele visited her GP who referred her to Liverpool Women's Hospital.

There, she was diagnosed with suffering from a hormone imbalance and around three years ago had her ovaries removed.

Since then Adele, who said doctors referred to her condition as a "hormone imbalance" rather than PMDD, said her explosive anger has dissipated.

Symptoms of PMDD

mood swings

feeling upset, tearful, anxious, irritable, overwhelmed or hopeless,

lack of energy

less interest in activities you normally enjoy

suicidal feelings.

breast tenderness or swelling

pain in your muscles and joints

headaches

feeling bloated

changes in your appetite such as overeating or having specific food cravings

finding it hard to avoid or resolve conflicts with people around you

becoming very upset if you feel that others are rejecting you

She is adamant is among a number of women who have suffered from, or continue to suffer from, PMDD.

"I knew what I was doing was wrong, I knew it wasn’t correct," she said. "A lot of people with the condition say they feel angry; like they need to explode."

Adele, mum to Harry, 22, Holly, 19, Charlotte, 15, and twins, Charlotte and Ruby, six, said her condition started out the blue in her late 30s.

"From starting my periods as a teen, I never got PMT, cramps or anything until I was 39,” she said. "Then the despair and anger began. For one week out of a month, I would call myself a mad woman."

5

Adele would sit in a forest at midnight

Even going shopping would provoke her wrath. "If I was in the shopping queue and someone pushed in front of me, instead of taking it with a pinch of salt, I would want to punch their lights out," she explained.

Visiting her GP, she explained: "You need to do something before I kill myself or someone else."

And, she said, he was "brilliant".

"I received the support I needed," she admitted. "But I'm sure there are cases where women are really, really struggling with the diagnosis."

She is not the only woman to have suffered the illness.

5

Tegan encountered problems with her husband, Rhys

A few months ago Tegan Graham, 31, of Melbourne, Australia, got a diagnosis of PMDD from a psychiatrist. It followed years of problems. Tegan, a mum of five, told how at her worst she nearly split from husband, Rhys, 30.

"I don’t know how we are still together," she said."I've spent hours, when the PMDD is bad, telling him, ‘I know you don’t love me’.

"It didn’t matter what he did, it wasn’t enough. After a while, that got to him.

"It got to a point where it was so bad at home, about six to 12 months ago, where we were like 'we need to just be friends now' but we worked through it.

“It’s much nicer now, we have a really strong relationship."

5

Tegan wither her daughter, Scarlett

She described her personality as being "like Jekyll and Hyde". And, during the worst times, she really suffered.

"I would get really rude," she said. "I was really depressed.

"If you can imagine the deepest despair that people go through in hardest times, it was like that.

"I felt like I was dying or going to die."

Read more in Health and Fitness

Sex Secrets

Prostitute who earns £2,000 a week reveals the average penis size ... and how much she enjoys work

Warning

'STOP FRYING YOUR SKIN'

Brave mum posts graphic daily photos of her face as she battles skin cancer which 'ate away' at her forehead

Home remedies

What causes mouth ulcers and how to treat them with stuff you have at home

SPOT ON

Dr Pimple Popper shares her skin tips.. and reveals why you should never pop a pimple yourself

WHAT'S THE STORY?

Here's WHY most men wake up aroused - and how you can have as many as five erections every night